The winter heading into 1991 was quite dry, but the
skies opened in March with enough rain to sustain the vines and then some.

The summer was generally fairly cool, a challenge to those growers with large
crops on the vine. A brief heat wave in July was the only real
"summer" weather. One vintner describes the 1991 growing season
as "four months of April and two weeks of summer." September was
moderately warm and many Napa Cabernet vineyards were picked starting in
mind-September and progressing well into October.

Washington State had a major freeze in 1991. The vintage is regarded as
"good," but not a hall-of-fame vintage.

Now 13 years old and with about 10-11 years of bottle aging, we assembled a set
of bottles from various cellars of the tasting panel.

8th Place: WOODWARD CANYON 1991 Columbia Valley
CABERNET SAUVIGNONThe 1991 vintage was a rather modest one in Washington, so it's not much
of a surprise that this wine finished behind the Napa Valley entrants.
Most tasters marked down this wine for its herbal quality. One taster
found "herbal, complex currant notes and some tobacco and sage.
Saddle leather and herbaceous elements come through here." Another
critic found it "vegetal and green, but nicely focused. It faded away
too quickly and displayed some dill-like notes." Someone else
mentioned "green pepper, licorice and it's fading fast."
I found many of the same elements, but was more receptive to these herbal
notes. There's a cedary undertone to all the herbal qualities. It's
tannic and moderately muscular on the palate. I liked the brightness of
this character and its hints of red and black currants. While it may be
less massive than some of the other wines, I felt it was not fading or in dire
need of drinking. I thought it might go another 5-10 years. My scale
of no stars to three stars found this to be worthy of a one-and-a-half star
rating.

7th Place: STAG'S LEAP WINE CELLARS Napa Valley "Cask 23"
CABERNET SAUVIGNONOne taster said "I have three things to say about this wine: It's
old, old, old!" A second taster found notes of "cherry and
hazelnut with complex notes of barnyard, asparagus or Brussels
sprouts." Someone else found it to be "Complex and concentrated
with juicy, ripe plum fruit, a hint of anise and vanilla cream...notes of forest
floor, too."
I found the Cask 23 to have some decidedly herbal notes on the nose, along with
a smoky tone and a woodsy quality. I liked those until this struck me more
as having a character reminiscent of cooked asparagus. On the palate I
found the wine to show the same elements. I felt it was like an
"older" wine compared to the rest of the field (and I know the cellar
where this came from is a cold one!). The wine, showing aged and mature
elements, still has some tight and sharp tannins. As it struck me as
unbalanced, I ranked it last.

6th Place: CAIN 1991 "Cain 5"One taster found this to be "sleek and elegant, mature with
currants, minerals and earth notes. There's some dusty plum fruit and a
rose petal note, too." Another panel member found "dark currant
fruit and yet the oak is not integrated here. I also found some 'green'
tannins." A third participant found it "bright and zippy,"
while another critic described it as "toasted and more like a French
Bordeaux wine. The tannins are hard."
I recall liking this in its youth, finding it somewhat Bordeaux-like back
then. Today I encountered hints of violets and dark berries on the
nose. It's decidedly "floral," which I found attractive.
The palate betrayed the nose, as the wine is really ripe and jammy, verging on
"stewed" or "cooked" fruit. It's somewhat
"soft" in this respect, yet the wine retains a coarse texture and is
still a bit tannic.

5th Place: Z-D 1991 Napa CABERNET SAUVIGNONDescribed by one critic as having "decent structure and ripe
boysenberry fruit, this shows a bit of lavender and talcum with an herbal and
plum-like finish." Another critic found "Berries and lots of
fruit, but it wasn't very complex. I also got a lot of cranberry fruit
here." A third taster called this "one dimensional," while
another found "sharp, searing fruit, but it's too acidic. It has the
'oldest' nose, too." Someone else felt it was showing "bright
fruit and is pleasant," while another critic encountered "tobacco and
aggressive, rather hot tannins on the palate."
I found the bouquet to be rather nice and rather developed. There's a
touch of cassis on the nose and some cocoa. On my last 'pass' I felt the
alcohol was a bit too prominent on the nose. It's, still, a nice, big, if
somewhat "clunky" Cabernet. The tannins are mild and may allow
the wine to go another 5-10 years, but it's perfectly ready right now. I
gave this a one star rating.

4th Place: SILVER OAK 1991 Napa CABERNET SAUVIGNON"Dill!" exclaimed one taster. Another described it as
showing "Aromas of plum and mango. It has the best bouquet, being
well-balanced and elegant. It's smooth, balanced and plum-like on the
finish." Someone else found it to be "Tightly wound, tannic,
with a subtle mushroom note and some herbal elements. There's a tart
plum-like aspect to the finish." One critic detected "Big oak
and dark cherry fruit. But it's oak, oak and more oak." Echoing
this, another taster found "Plenty of oak, to be sure, but plenty of fruit,
too." A final voice said "It's good, deep, dark Cabernet fruit
with notes of plum and raspberry."
This is the sort of wine that is difficult to taste "blind" since it's
quite apparent whose wine it was. I found loads of lovely dill and plenty
of American oak on the nose. Very charming. The wood takes center
stage on the palate and I found it remarkably woodsy, still. It's going to
be great with a grilled steak! I gave it a one-and-a-half star rating, but
it's classically "Silver Oak."

3rd Place: ROBERT MONDAVI 1991 Napa Valley "Reserve"
CABERNET SAUVIGNON"This is supple, polished and showing mature plum fruit and a bit
of milk chocolate. There's some cedary oak here, too and a very long
finish." said one fan. More critical, one taster pronounced this
"D-O-A...dead on arrival." Another taster found this
"Medicinal and chalky. It's simple and it faded fast." One
tasting participant detected "Floral notes and nice, rich fruit:
plums and blueberries with some bracing tannins. It's quite deep."
My top wine, I found lovely currants and dark fruit aromas on the nose.
There's a lovely balance here and I described this as elegant. The palate
certainly confirms the elegant quality, as this is refined and showing lots of
dark fruit and nice wood. The tannin and fruit balance is very fine:
plenty of fruit and just the right tannic 'edge.' I think this still has
five to ten more years to it. I gave it a two star rating. Very fine
(and I'm not a huge Mondavi fan...I just "call 'em as I see 'em").

2nd Place: BERINGER 1991 "Chabot Vineyard" Napa CABERNET
SAUVIGNON"Complex, mocha, vanilla notes with lots of oak and blackberry
fruit. This has a brown sugar-like finish to it." said one fan.
Another taster encountered "SO2 which
blew off. Then I found nice, smooth berry fruit and well-integrated
tannins. It's not a blockbuster, though." Naturally, the next
critic described it as a "Blockbuster!" Someone else found lots
of "tobacco" notes here. One critic called it "Port,"
adding "The only thing this is missing is about eight-percent of residual
sugar." A final taster found "Violets and a perfume nose to this
nicely mouth-filling Cabernet."
I liked the nose of this to start, finding dark cocoa elements and, certainly,
ripe to nearly over-ripe fruit. It's more powerful on the nose than it is
complex. On the palate I found it big, intense and rich. I described
it as "sort of Port-like" more than resembling a Cabernet or
Claret. It might fit in nicely with a set of California Zinfandels.
Ultimately, I didn't like it as a Cabernet. Sorry.

1st Place: TOM EDDY 1991 Napa CABERNET SAUVIGNONOne taster found "Lots of chocolate and cherry fruit, with some
mocha, mineral and ripe plums. I also found some red licorice and and
minerally finish." A second taster objected to this
"minerally" character saying "It's too much!" A third
person found it "Thin, alcoholic and the fruit seems to be drying
out." More positively, another critic said it's "Deep, rich,
showing coffee bean notes and is well-structured. There are notes of anise
or licorice in this complex Cabernet." A final taster said it was
reminiscent of "cherry cough drops with a little sweetness to it."
I liked the dark fruit notes on the nose of this wine. It's at a point
where the wine is probably closing in on its plateau. The flavors are
nice, woodsy and a bit tannic. There's still an element of youthful
vitality to this and I found it to be intense and powerful on the palate
without being unbalanced. It may live another decade if
well-stored. I have it a one-and-a-half star rating.

Please note: The wines tasted are not always wines
we have (or have had) in the shop.
Many bottles are merely for our enological exploration.
Price quoted are current at the time of the tasting, but may be different
when you're reading this.

WE HAVE NOT ORGANIZED A TASTING IN A WHILE...
BUT WE DO POST THE RESULTS OF A PRIVATE TASTING GROUP THAT'S BEEN MEETING FOR
MORE THAN 40 YEARS!

We are working on
organizing some blind-tastings at the shop.
Send us a note to indicate your interest in participating.
These would be on Wednesday evenings and you'd need to bring 8 wine glasses.